It is never too late!
In this fast-paced world, there are times when one has to put their dreams and desires on the back-burner for the sake of survival. And unfortunately during the race for survival one forgets that their dreams are important, that they matter. They forget that there is always time, as long as you are alive there is time, and that it is never too late. No matter the age, era, or phase of life, it is never too late to do what your heart desires, what your inner being craves!This is what Navillera is about; an old man who struggled all his life for the sake of the survival of his family deciding to do what his soul craved, what he believed was him, what made him happy despite all the opposition and protests. It is about him deciding that since I am alive, it isn't too late!
The writing, the cast, the acting, the OST, and even the cinematography were all a cherry on top of the already perfect cake that was the storyline!
The way this story about this old man and his dream made me feel, I truly have no words. Of all the shows and movies I have watched as well as books I have read, very few have made me feel what this show made me feel. It is a show that will stay with me, the feelings it invoked, the warmth it made me feel inside, all of these will stay with me for life!
This is a show that I truly believe should not be missed out on upon!
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This review may contain spoilers
Remarkable...until it wasn't (vague spoilers)
It had me until the last three episodes, where they decided to give a very factually inaccurate account of an illness's progression, jumping and oscillating between far separate stages. I understand the need to create tension and tragedy and happy release, but it simply was too far beyond reason for me to accept. Either the early portrayal of the illness was mischaracterized or the jumps and oscillations were incorrect. Though the feelings were there due to how well the characters draw you in early on, it lacked the resolution and connection that the early episodes so well established. It needed four more episodes and a better written climax and denouement. It is sad that it did not get the ending that the first half deserved.Was this review helpful to you?
Excellent drama and must watch
Amazing drama.. Song Kang and Park In Hwan are wow. I don’t know how much effect they kept to do this amazing ballet but every thing paid off.Direction, story, specially dialogues are awesome.
The way story takes turns and with so much emotion is really touching. Every special moment in this series will make you remember or relate your self to your life.
If you are planning to motivate your self or to give yourself a bit push but don’t know where to start. The dialogues in this drama will help you.
I loved Song Kang acting so much in this drama.. and Mr.Park will make you feel every inch in your life.
This series made me to cry. And made me to push myself a lot. I’m very much glad I watched it.
Thank you team for this amazing series. A true beautiful butterfly
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The most heart warming K-drama I've ever watched!!! It's never too late to achieve your dreams :)
So this is my very first time to write a reviewfor a K-Drama and honestly I was hesitant to watch it at first because I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it, but I still
went ahead and watch it anyway. And guess what? It was the best decision I've ever made. I LOVE LOVE
LOOOOOVE this drama. Watching this drama was
quite an adventure, it made me smile, laugh, and most of the time bawl. Because this drama is full of
warmth, it's very light and family oriented as well. I
love the friendship of Harabeoji and Chae Rok, it's
very wholesome. It also made me realize that it's
never too late to make all your dreams come true,
you can still make them happen no matter how old or young you are. That's why I definitely recommend
this drama!!! It's actually 11/10 for me. That's how
much it touched my heart ❤❤❤
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Despite our Limitations we can All Soar-Inspirational Drama
Our lives are filled with limitations--mental and physical boundaries each individual possesses that they cannot change, however despite these limitations we still have a differing range of control within our lives. In our life, although we may not control the outcome, we can control the present actions we take toward reaching a goal.
There are those of us who are forced to give up on prior dreams. No matter the reason, whether it’s money, age, or health, we’ve all faced struggles and limitations that have brought us back to a tragic reality. In the Drama Navillera, we are told that, yes there are harsh realities, but as long as we are still alive and breathing there is still time to pursue our goals. The only limitations that truly stop us from achieving a goal are the ones we’ve set up for ourselves, within our minds or societal expectations about pursuing certain skills
The drama Navillera is a metaphor for life. Through the sport of ballet, we can take the teachings of the show and place them into any of our real-world situations. Although I have never done ballet, this drama struck a chord with me and the hobbies and careers I have chosen in life.
The fact of life is that we are all bound by our limitations, but the biggest limitation is not the physical, but the mental boundaries we place on ourselves about what we cannot achieve. In the present, we can still carve out our future with persistence. We can set small but realistic goals to build our future and fight against our limitations. In Navillera Deol-Chul’s is to soar, but he knew that to do so he would have to put in the effort to learn the fundamentals of ballet, and so through the help of Chae-rok, but more importantly through Deol-Chul’s own perseverance and persistence towards achieving his goals, he is able to learn ballet.
Freedom of expression can take forms in multiple fashions, but in a world where there are boundless opportunities for self-expression, it begs the question: what defines success? Is it following one’s passions, reaching fame and stardom, and earning a lot of money? Navillera explores the open-ended nature of success and how each individual has to come to their own definition of what success means to them.
Here is one of the main questions that the drama wants the audience to ponder: is a 23-year-old ballerino successful and a 70-year-old amateur ballerino unsuccessful? It becomes clear that the answer to this question is no and that ballet, whether it be professional or amateur, is meaningful to individuals despite age and skill level. Success becomes something that isn’t measured by age or skill level, but by the meaning, it has for each individual and the amount of effort they are willing to put into their desired goal.
Time is a limitation that we all have to face. On the adjacent side of time, is inevitably regret. The regret of not starting early, or not putting in more effort, of living with the fact that you cannot go back in time to pursue something you wanted to. However, despite this tragic reality, we can still hold onto our present and future. If we set past our own limitations of society and what it has deemed as ‘silly’ or ‘unattainable’, we can accomplish our goals.
The reminder for all of us, after watching this drama, is that limitations and struggles are inevitable--a part of life. Just like a Nabi (Butterfly, 나비) we can also soar towards our individual goals.
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A Perfect Drama to get into dramas
This was actually the first drama I watched since I originally read the webcomic. I was unsure how well the adaption would be, but they picked the perfect people to play the parts. This was my introduction to Song Kang as an actor and he blows his role out of the water. His acting was phenomenal and I felt his emotions as the episodes went on. The man playing the grandpa was absolutely adorable and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing them. You see a male on a role of ballet which is sometimes more female oriented and the show gives us a journey of someone following a dream even when everyone tells you not to. It is wholesome and great, with good drama, but has the perfect balance of morality and portrayal of events many people have suffered through as well. I definitely recommend this to anyone, though if you cry easy you may want to bring tissues!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I was watching, and then I started crying
70 year old and a dream.Deokchul is the cutest 70 year old man I've ever seen, so cheerful, even when everything seems hopeless.. He is the most accurate/ positive elder representation I've seen in a drama so far. so passionate and thoughtful, yet it shows how he hasn't always been this optimistic, and it's decades of working hard and pushing his own personal dreams to the side in order to satisfy everyone's expectations.
as a fellow artist with many dreams that seem so far out of my reach, this drama hit deep in my core.
if you're like me, like Deokchul, like those who work at a job they don't like but can't drop because money controls what they can or can't do, like students who are not sure they're going down the right path but they are unfortunately not granted second chances, like the kids that feel like they owe success to their parents, etc...
if you need to feel like you've been heard ; this one is gonna hurt but it's gonna feel so right.
side note : I'm so glad we finally get to see Song Kang in a role that truly embraces his potential as an actor. His character is hardworking and stubborn, and I don't expect any less from a ballet dancer.
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The cutest 'odd couple', and also a lovely slice of life
A good show makes it easy to suspend all disbelief. The dancing was mostly cringey and underwhelming, but I didn't care one bit because I was so invested in the characters. I lost count of how many times that old man choked me up. The young male lead didn't have as much to do, but he was well cast and very appealing. Good chemistry.I had only a couple of difficulties with this.
(1) In early episodes, the dynamics between the old man, his wife, and eldest son were difficult to understand. Small-mindedness and arrogance were given as superficial explanations for the extreme behavior initially. The deeper issues seemed to involve a cultural specificity that I couldn't grasp entirely. Later on, the wife's and son's transformations felt rather sudden and not entirely credible.
(2) The show's pacing was mostly excellent, but some of the later episodes felt so, so draggy. Nothing much was happening and there were too many montages, testing my patience severely. The story was predictable, but that was OK. I was glad the writers didn't distract from the main story by adding unnecessary romance.
Overall, I'd recommend this highly.
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Warm and feel good over realistic
Sep 2023I thought this was a touching, often amusing, positive and unusual drama.
Dementia is not often featured, to any extent, in S.Korean dramas, in the same way 'natural' gay, disabled or ASD characters are not either. Their industry, seemingly like many within their population, still appear to be more uncomfortable with such things, than not.
Anyone who cares for, or is close to, someone that suffers from dementia or Alzheimers in a far more negative and aggressive way, may find the representation in this a little too saccharin.
However, it is still quite a moving story. How the family of the elderly central character, who is determined to realise a dream he wasn't allowed to in his youth, learn from him, overcome their prejudices and grow, has a very feel good factor.
Deok-chul's family's characters are all quite different from one another and well portrayed by a cast I liked, but I honestly didn't get the father of Chae-rok (Song Kang's character) at all. I found that aspect of the story quite weak; as was the story around Ho-beom (Chae-rok's ex-friend). I didn't really feel like either lent anything extra to the story at all. That's certainly no reflection on the actors though, who were not the issue.
I read that Song Kang took ballet lessons for 6 months prior to filming and it shows. Apart from the very complex moves (where the camera focuses on purely legs, feet etc), which used a professional stand-in, he danced himself. I thought he looked beautiful, strong, graceful and convincing.
If you can put aside the fact that several aspects of the story are terribly unlikely and just watch it for the satisfaction of characters overcoming adversity, pushing their limits, taking responsibility, realising dreams and many becoming better people for it, then you will surely enjoy this, as I did.
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Beautiful!
Such heartwarming story beautifully presented. This character driven drama was moving, relatable, well written, and the characters were well thought-out and amazingly performed. I thought I could get away without shedding a tear, but in the end I couldn't help but got teary eyed, and it makes me miss my family. I was worried that this drama would drag on like many others in similar veins are, but I'm pleased to find out that it was really well paced.There are certain things that I didn't agree with, but on the whole, this hits the right notes. I love the message that this drama is trying to convey. This is definitely something I'd recommend for others to watch.
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Phenomenal!
Oh my God, so good! This reminded me of Reply 1988 in the best way possible - poignant, family-oriented, and full of life in all its hilarious, heart-wrenching, and beautiful glory! Seriously, it was amazing. The acting was phenomenal and the adaptation from the webtoon was well-done (mostly accurate, with expanded plotlines for various characters). Navillera really captured my heart (and my mom's) and didn’t let them go. I loved Chae-rok, Deok-Chul, and the rest of the cast. Song Kang, who plays Chae-rok, is also very handsome. And the ballet-based plot was gorgeous to watch, which was a joy. I adored it - I just loved the entire show to pieces. It was perfect. 5 stars! Would 100% watch again.Was this review helpful to you?
"Follow your dreams" done right
What I usually dislike about the usual "follow your heart and do what you want to do" kind of stories, is how the characters are rarely placed in a context where they can doubt of themselves in a realistic way: it usually feels like they're held back by self-doubt only, while everything else (physical and mental condition, friends, family, money, and so on) is completely in their favor, making it hard for me to relate to their story at all.Navillera is one of the very rare shows that actually made me think that I, too, might be able to follow my heart after all. The charm of this drama is not just in its premise (although, I'll be honest, the idea of a 70-year-old man wanting to learn ballet was the major reason why I got interested in the first place), but also in the way it narrates the story. It's realistic and vivid, and none of the characters are there for no reason. The doubts and struggles of Deok Chul's family, and the problems of Chae Rok are all very much real. Rather than watching a drama, it really felt like looking into someone else's life.
For the same reason, the drama felt a little slow at times, but it was the right pace to show everything the right way: it was necessary to show the mind of the characters and the events around them, and it was useful to lead all the plotlines to a worthy conclusion.
I had read the webtoon before and really loved it, so I can't say I wasn't a little skeptical about the drama at first. There are some differences that I couldn't ignore, but I guess it was unavoidable.
Overall, I highly recommend this drama. It made me cry multiple times as I watched, but I'd be more than okay to cry again in the future while watching a second time.
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